Birdsong’s Blog

Watch one of the gorilla videos that inspired my kids song, “BELLA THE GORILLA”.

Hello Fans and Primate Lovers!

This is one of the several gorilla videos I watched  while I was composing my animal song, “Bella the Gorilla”. Since I had never met a gorilla in the wild, I felt it was important to understand as much as possible about these remarkable primates to help me write an educational song about them. This video by BBC portrays the family life of gorillas and made their lives more real for me. My song “Bella the Gorilla” can be heard on our CD “EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED and Other Animal Songs for Kids”. Watching this video and listening to this song today made me want to move like a gorilla!

With appreciation to all who work so hard to study and protect the Mountain and Congo Gorilla of Africa,

Birdsong

Learn about echolocation in “CLICKETY-CLACK”, our animal song video about dolphins.

Hello to all my dolphin-loving fans! 

I first posted this animal song video in 2009, and it has so far been the most-watched music video on our Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders YouTube channel. This song video for kids has photos of dolphins (thanks to NOAA), the song “Clickety-Clack” from our CD IF I WERE A FISH and Other Ocean Songs for Kids, and the lyrics to the song so that you can sing along with me. 

I got my idea for this song “Clickety-Clack” when I learned that dolphins make clicking and clacking sounds to communicate with each other and to find objects in the ocean. This is how it works: They make a sound and the sound quickly travels through the water. When the sound hits an object in the sea, the sound then bounces back to the dolphin and makes a picture of the object in the dolphin’s mind. This is called “echolocation.”  The echoing sound and the picture it creates helps dolphins find food, other dolphins to play with, and boats and objects in the sea. As I learned about this, I kept hearing the words “clickety-clack” in my head, and before I knew it i was creating this song. 
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Learn about wolves in our animal song video, “LEADERS OF THE PACK”.

Hello all you animal lover fans!
I’m excited to share my newest music video about wolves, featuring my song “Leaders of the Pack” from our CD EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED and Other Animal Songs for Kids, as well as some fun performance footage. I absolutely love singing this song, and it makes me smile to think of you singing and howling along. So take a break, watch this with your family and have a howling good time learning about wolves!

With love,
Birdsong

Watch “THE FLOWERS HAVE GONE WILD!” – a kids song video about wildflowers and their pollinators

Greetings my dear fans and friends!

I’ve been taking photos and videos of wildflowers and pollinators since I first wrote the song, “The Flowers Have Gone Wild” several springs ago.  I’m very excited to share the best of them with you in this 3 minute music video featuring “The Flowers Have Gone Wild” from our CD EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED and Other Animal Songs for Kids. You will watch bees, beetles, ants, and bird pollinators in this video, and many kinds of beautiful wildflowers from the western United States. Each framed flower and splash of color reminds me of how much I love writing these songs and how much I love singing them with you. I hope you enjoy this video. Please share it with your family and friends.
May these flowers fill your hearts with the colors and sounds of the outdoor world!

With lots of love,
Birdsong

Teachers and Parents – Check out this video’s interactive companion lesson for grades K-2.

Watch our animal song video, “SO BIG! BLUE WHALE”- a tribute to the largest animal on the planet.

Dear Friends,
     I’m so excited to share my animal song video about the world’s BIGGEST animal, the blue whale.  “SO BIG! BLUE WHALE!” includes footage from my very fortunate sightings of blue whales off the coast of Southern California, U.S. This video also contains  concert highlights and song lyrics so that you can read or sing along. Help me pay musical tribute to the largest animal on the planet by watching and singing along to “So Big! Blue Whale!” from our with love CD IF I WERE A FISH and Other Ocean Songs for Kids”. This song is one of a growing collection of whale songs and other animal songs for kids by Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders. Enjoy!

With love,

Birdsong

Watch our kids song video about a very clever invertebrate – “OXFORD THE OCTOPUS”

Teachers and Parents:
We’ve created an interactive companion lesson that features this video and helps children dive deeper into the song’s content. Lesson includes questions, activities, crafts, song lyrics and resources for additional learning. This lesson meets CCSS in English/Language Arts and Next generation Science.

Watch our Butterfly Song Video for Kids, “I ALMOST KISSED A BUTTERFLY”

Dear Friends,

I was walking down a trail one day and, before I knew it, I was writing the song, “I ALMOST KISSED A BUTTERFLY”. This song is one of my favorites and is featured in this animal song video by the same name. This video mixes our live performance with the soundtrack from our CD “Everything is Connected and Other Animal Songs for Kids”.  It also includes the song lyrics so that you can sing along with us; and it ends with some fun questions about butterflies and caterpillars.

This song is based on a true story of my encounter with a butterfly while hiking at Crystal Cove State Park in southern California, USA. You can hear the story of this encounter  and the original rough recording of “I ALMOST KISSED A BUTTERFLY” on a previous blog post. I love singing this song and find it to be a wonderful way to celebrate these very interesting insects. Look for caterpillars and butterflies the next time you are outside! If you see a butterfly, please blow it a kiss for me.

– Birdsong

Listen to my new butterfly song for kids. It’s called: “I Almost Kissed a Butterfly.”

Hello everyone.

I’ve written a new animal song called I Almost Kissed a Butterfly.  I started writing it after seeing a beautiful butterfly while I was taking a walk.  Most of my animal songs are about an animal I have met or an animal I find interesting.  I think that butterflies are beautiful creatures and whenever I see them I feel happy inside.  My feeling of happiness and my love for butterflies are what made me want to write a song about them.

 CLICK HERE TO LISTEN  to my new animal song for kids, “I Almost Kissed A Butterfly”  

If you have any ideas or fun facts about butterflies to add to the song, please send them to me at:  littleonesmusic@gmail.com

(UPDATE on 8-13-15: You can now find “I ALMOST KISSED A BUTTERFLY” on our Parents’ Choice®  Approved CD “EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED and Other Animal Songs for Kids” and in our butterfly song video.

Thank you for listening!

Sincerely,

Birdsong

p.s  Here are the words, or “lyrics” to the chorus of “I Almost Kissed a Butterfly:”

It was a near miss but I almost kissed a butterfly.
It was a near miss but I almost kissed a butterfly.
It flew out of the sky above,
And I gave that butterfly some love.
It was a near miss but I almost kissed a butterfly.

A Message from Oxford the Octopus

KEEP THE OCEAN CLEAN!

Coloring pages,  a message from Oxford the Octopus,  and a short song about keeping the ocean clean (at the very end).

READ OXFORD’S  MESSAGE:

Dear Friends,

Did you know there is a section of the Pacific Ocean twice the size of the continental United States that is called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? My friends at the Surfrider Foundation say that “100 million tons of plastic” swirl in that patch. There is so much plastic in the water that it outnumbers zooplankton by six to one! The bad news is that this plastic ends up in the stomachs of my friends, the marine birds and ocean animals. In fact, one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals around the world die each year due from swallowing or getting tangled in plastic.

Turtle with plastic bag. Photo: Melbourne Zoo

Plastic is made from petroleum and it lasts almost forever. Every piece of plastic ever made is still in existence. That’s why it’s so important to me that all people try to greatly reduce their use of plastics, especially plastics we use only once and throw away.  You can make a difference and help protect the ocean, beaches and my friends who live in the sea. Here are some things that you and your families can do:

1. Use reusable bottles for water and other drinks. (By using just one reusable bottle, you will keep 167 single-use plastic bottles from entering the environment.

2. Bring cloth or reusable bags to the grocery store to carry your things. (For each reusable bag you use, it will save approximately 400 plastics from being used).

3. Reuse or recycle the plastic bags you already have. (For every thirteen plastic bags you don’t use, you will save enough petroleum to drive a car one mile).

4. Learn more and share ideas with others on how to reduce plastic use.

5. Don’t litter. Ever. (But you knew that already)

6. Download and color my Eco-Wonder certificate

7. Sing along to my song “Oxford the Octopus”

8. Still want to color? Download another coloring page of mine!

Thank you for helping to keep the ocean clean.  After all, the ocean is my home.

Sincerely,

Oxford the Octopus

p.s. To find out more about how to keep the ocean clean for all  ocean animals, listen to to the first two verses and chorus of our song “Keep the Ocean Clean”  from the CD “IF I WERE A FISH an Other Ocean Songs for Kids” by Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders. Just click on the words below:

Song Sample: “Keep the Ocean Clean” first two  verses and chorus from CD “IF I WERE A FISH and other Ocean Songs for Kids” by Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders. It has lots of suggestions about how to keep the ocean clean for ocean animals and for all of us. 

A Drawing of Sea Creatures by Jaden, a fan of Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders

A picture of sea life drawn by Jaden, a five year old fan of Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders

This is Jaden’s drawing of sea creatures sent to us by Jaden’s mom.  Jaden is a fan of Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders and gave his permission for us to post this on our website and blog.

This is what Jaden’s mom says about the drawing:

“My son Jaden drew these sea creatures while listening to Birdsong and the Eco-Wonders singing “IF I WERE A FISH and Other Ocean Songs For Kids” (his favorite CD!). I thought I would send it to you so you could see the art that your music inspired. There’s an octopus, sharks, dolpin, fish, sea turtle, sea otter, walrus, and whale (with kelp) – can you find them all?”  — Angela W.   (www.meltingpotmoms.org)

We love kids songs and art about about ocean animals, especially kids’ drawings.  Please send us your art or drawings about animals if you’d like others to see it on our Blog.  You can send your drawings of ocean animals (or any animals)  to Birdsong at: littleonesmusic@gmail.com.